Historical Cafés

Purple itinerary

Caffè degli Specchi

7 Unità d’Italia Square
The café is located in the main town square on the ground floor of Stratti building, above the vestiges of the fourteenth-century Amarina castle. It was established in 1839 thanks to the presence of the Greek colony in Trieste, which was very active in the nineteenth century. In 1846 the whole building became property of the Insurance Company Generali.
Always considered to be the exclusive venue of Trieste it became popular due  to the concerts that were held there, directed by newcomer Franz Lehar.
During the Anglo-American occupation the palace and the café were seized and access forbidden to “unaccompanied” Trieste citizens.

Caffè Urbanis

15 Borsa Square
This café was established in 1832 as a pastry shop. The date, as well as mythological symbols, marine and Bora, is impressed upon the mosaic on the floor.

Caffè Torinese

2 Italia Avenue
This café was established in 1915 with the intervention of the interior designer Debelli, famed for having fitted out passenger ships like Vulcania and Saturnia. The café is appreciated for the characteristic furnishings in wood and brass.

Pasticceria Pirona

12 Barriera Vecchia Square
Alberto Pirona opened the pastry shop in April 1900. Since then the original furnishings have remained the same, with liberty and glazed wooden shelves displaying sweets and Trieste traditional pastries. A Joyce portrait reminds us that the Irish writer, who lived in the area, was a frequent visitor.

Caffè San Marco

18 Battisti Street
Although reborn several times, the café is almost the same as the founder, Mark Lovrinovich, designed in 1914, with a refined furniture, marble and stucco. Napoleon Cozzi, a famous artist (as well as mountain climber and writer), directed the work of art. Always attended by artists and intellectuals (Timmel, Flumiani, Voghera, Tomizza, Mattioni, Magris) this café was often a film set.
Curious and ironic caricatures hang on the walls representing decorative masks and comic book characters.

Pasticceria La Bomboniera

3 XXX Ottobre Street
It was established in 1850 by the Hungarian family Eppinger. Its pride is the original oven preserved over the years and among the few of its kind still at work in Italy. Of interest are also furnishings and glasses in Art Nouveau style.
Typical Central-European cakes, especially those of Austrian and Hungarian tradition, are baked here. From Hungary is also one of the top pastry chefs arrived here in the ’30s: Joseph Poth.

Caffè Stella Polare

14 Dante Street
It was originally situated in the old Contrada della Caserma (now XXX Ottobre Street) and in the bustling 1848 changed its name in Caffè Gioberti. In a cosmopolitan city like Trieste it was particularly appreciated by the German community and then later among its patrons you would find Umberto Saba, his daughter Linuccia, Guido Voghera, Virgilio Giotti and James Joyce teacher at the nearby Berlitz School.

Caffè Tommaseo

4/C Tommaseo Square
Established in 1825, it was named after its proprietor Tommaso Marcato from Padua, and was later renamed Tommaseo in honour of the Dalmatian linguist, writer and patriot. Marcato brought from Belgium valuable mirrors, introduced the ice cream in Trieste and from 1845 created the Trieste gas lighting system. Among the frequenters it is worthwhile mentioning Pasquale Besenghi degli Ughi, Domenico Rossetti, Peter Kandler and probably Henri Beyle (Stendhal); later Virgilio Giotti, Giani Stuparich Pierantonio Quarantotti Gambini, Umberto Saba.

Pasticceria Penso

11 Diaz Street
It is a pastry shop that serves traditional Trieste and Central European pastries and cakes. It has been operating in Trieste since 1918.

Harry’s Grill

2/1 Unità d’Italia Square
This café is located by the Hotel Duchi d’Aosta, overlooking “Piazza Grande”, exactly where Locanda Grande was situated until 1847, a venue known for having hosted nobles and celebrities. Among these, the archaeologist Johann Joachim Winckelmann who was assassinated here in 1768.
It was the only café in the city to stay open all night.
In 1873 the insurance Company Assicurazioni Generali financed the construction of the new Garni Hotel, then Vanoli Hotel. After the Second World War it became Grand Hotel Duchi d’Aosta.